Goldfish and Guppies and Albino Mud Puppies
by OliphauntOligarchy
Summary: Haru wants a pet. One that loves water. New friends and awkwardness ensue. Petshop AU RinHaru/MakoHaru


A new fic. In sorry for starting so many new ones..

I'm on the plane right now and OHMYGOSH. I feel to old to be doing this...seventeen after all... But possibly one of the cutest boys ever is sitting behind me in the plane. I'm in the window seat and he's right behind me and aww he's laying down, so the back of his head is against my chair and I can see his hair lol. No I'm not a creeper... It's just that he looks like a modern Draco Malfoy! I do not kid you people. I'm kind of fangirling... And his friend has brown hair. Yep. So drarry.

Anyway! That's my plight. But this isn't even drarry so... Without further ado!

Free!

Disclaimer: I don't own Free!. If I did, there would be a third season... And a fourth... And a fifth...

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-Goldfish and Guppies

and Albino Mud Puppies-

Summary: Haru loves the water. He wants a friend who loves the water as much as he does.

Rin scratched at his maroon hair, and pushed a long strand out of his face. Leaning against the checkout counter, he rested his head on the palm of his left hand. His free fingers tapped rhythmically against the marble and he played out a few notes of his guitar music in his head.

Working at the pet shop was sometimes so boring. There were days when as few as two people stopped by. Most of the time, they didn't even purchase anything. The only solace that the red-headed teen had was that the animals were quiet. Most of the time. Unless of course the shop was full of customers-which it usually wasn't. Rin found this to be both a blessing and a curse.

The economy gods must have been smiling down on him today though, because as soon as Rin took out his lunch bag, he heard a light jingle, alerting him that a customer had just walked in.

His stomach, however, seemed to object as it let out a low rumble. He grimaced slightly and placed a hand over his angry belly, attempting to silence the sound.

Customer first, lunch later. He thought to himself, as he glanced casually at the entrance. His eyes widened in surprise when no person was present.

"No one's shoplifting under my watch..." He mumbled through clenched teeth as he hopped over the counter and stalked toward the door. He whipped around when he heard sneakers quietly squeaking on the tiled floor.

Sure enough, there the customer was, walking carelessly by the kennels that contained puppies and kittens. The dark-haired boy was passing by the cute (to most people) furry animals and not paying them one bit of attention. Rin was shocked that he wasn't cooing and awww-ing at the baby animals. Instead he went to the cages where the rabbits and hamsters were kept.

Rin studied the boy, dressed in plain clothing-a light blue hoodie and some dark wash jeans-and followed him toward the other pets.

When the boy turned around suddenly, Rin was taken back. It must seem really strange right now for him to be following this customer...

Deep blue oceanic eyes nearly bore a hole through Rin's forehead before the red-head grinned awkwardly to try to lessen tension.

"Uh..." He began incoherently, "Hey! Um, can I help you with anything?"

The other teen looked bored.

Is he gonna say anything!? Rin wondered, almost frantic. What if this kid is some psychopath who stalks pet store employees for some sick fun?

The boy stood still for nearly a whole minute before his eyes blinked. It looked like a sense of remembrance returned to him as his cheeks tinted a misty pink and he shook his head, effectively swishing his dark bangs out of his face.

He began to speak after a quiet clearing of his throat. "Yes. Do you have any animals that love water? These don't seem like it."

Rin, quite embarrassingly, was shocked. Wow. This guy can actually string together a whole sentence. He didn't even stutter, even though he wasn't even responding just a minute ago! And what kind of question is that?

Unsure how to answer that, Rin replied hesitantly, "Um...Excuse me?"

The boy looked exasperated. "Water. Do any of your animals like water?"

Oh. An animal that liked water...?

"Soooo... You want a fish?"

The boy's eyes lit up at this. Yep, he definitely wanted a fish.

"Ok, well then, just follow me." Rin began to walk toward the back where the fish tanks were kept.

"Now, we have different kinds-" he stopped when he turned to look at the customer as he spoke and noticed that the boy wasn't moving-his eyelids lowered suspiciously and his lips were turned down at the corners.

"Where are you going...?" He asked.

Rin rolled his eyes. Geez, this guy sure was a strange one.

"To the back. That's where the fish are..."

He said this slowly as if it would make the teen understand him. They spoke the same language, communication shouldn't have to be this hard. Rin was always frustrated when simple things began to become too complicated. Talking to people and communicating wants and feelings was not that hard to do. Rin would call himself an expert.

The boy's expression changed and he finally took some tentative steps toward the red-head. Did Rin look weird? Was there something on his face? Was the kid scared of him? He didn't look scary! Unless, he counted his sharp, very shark-like teeth. But hey, he brushed three times every day, so no matter how pointy they appeared, at least they were shiny and smelled fresh and minty. He thought his teeth looked pretty good.

He wouldn't say he was vain...He just cared about how people saw him. Okay, so maybe that's the same thing as being vain-but that didn't mean he had to admit it.

Now feeling very self-concious, Rin brushed a piece of hair out of his face and stopped walking once he had reached the fish tanks.

"Well, here they are. Your water-loving friends. See anything you like?" Out of the corners of his red eyes, he noticed the boy staring at him. What the heck?

Said boy stepped forward and ran his slender fingers along the clear glass. Rin was about to tell him not to touch or tap the glass until he saw the fish swim furiously toward the hand. Seriously. All the fish. Every single freaking fish living in that tank swarmed around the pale fingers.

Well, Rin decided, the guy did want something that liked water? So maybe he was drawn to water and that made the fish drawn to him? He didn't know, and he hated thinking about all this introspective crap.

He had crossed his arms and was running a hand through his hair and biting his lip thoughtfully when he noticed fish-boy staring at him. Geez! This kid was unnerving. All the same, Rin was an employee and had to be 'kind' to customers. No matter how much his definition of 'kind' differed from his employer's.

The boy seemed to want to say something but didn't know how to go about doing it. His mouth opened and closed several times: and then he spoke.

"I want one of these," He pointed directly at the tank where the fish were still jumbled together like bees. "...you...worker person..." He finished, his eyes wandered down to Rin's name tag. Except, it wasn't there. Crap, he forgot to clip it on. Again.

"Rin." He supplied, "Rin Matsuoka." He stretched out his hand.

The boy stared at the hand and then nodded and stared at Rin's face.

"Haruka Nanase." He said as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

It was quiet for a moment, and Rin's open palm, long forgotten, lowered awkwardly, and he laughed nervously.

"I said I wanted one of these." Haru repeated. "I want that one, Rin."

Rin gaped at being called by his first name. They had only just met. But hey, if he was going to be that way, so was Rin.

"Okay, Haruka. Which one?" He smiled in a way that he hoped was not smug.

Haruka turned to stare at the fish once again, "Please, just call me Haru."

Rin was shocked, to say the very least. First names-then nicknames. Wow, this kid was very informal. Whatever, Rin could deal.

"Ok, this one with the red stripe on its tale?"

Haru shook his head. "No, this one."

"The one with the white face?"

"No. This one."

Rin squinted. Which one? There were like thirty goldfish in the tank.

After going through five different groups of fish, he finally found the one that Haru wanted.

"You mean the one all alone in the corner of the tank?" Haru nodded.

He really wanted this one? The fish was floating in a corner and was nudging its oval-shaped head against the multi-colored stones decorating the bottom of the tank. White speckles dotted its otherwise flaky orange complexion. Its fins were bent at odd angles and its eyes were bulging slightly like big glass cross-eyed globes. It was one ugly, messed up fish.

"Haru, are you sure that's the fish you want? I mean..." Rin didn't know what to say without being rude.

"Yes." Haru said as Rin shrugged and scooped the fish out of the tank and placed it into a rubbery bag filled with water. As he closed the lid, and then tied a knot around the bag, he noticed Haru searching the shelves that held glass fish bowls. The black-haired boy gently wrapped his fingers around a very regular, very plain, clear bowl. Rin almost laughed aloud. That definitely fit the kid, at least as far as he could tell.

Rin strode toward the counter and hopped over the small door that was supposed to swing open, but had been jammed for quite some time. Haru stared at him blankly, clearly unimpressed, and walked to the checkout.

He placed the bowl on the counter and stood there, not moving one bit. Rin wondered if he even breathed. This kid was too quiet. The redhead felt kind of awkward around quiet people, normally he didn't care, after all, he spoke enough for two people...but Haru was just too much.

He cleared his throat and broke Haru's unending gaze at the window behind him. The view was beautiful, Rin knew that. It allowed the onlooker a great picture of the calm ocean and the tanned beach. Occasionally, he would go swimming at the beach for a chance at water without limits and a breath of salt-but he preferred pools. He vaguely wondered if Haru liked to swim.

"Ok. So that's going to be one thousand yen." He stated and watched the other teen pull out his wallet and hand over a card. Rin swiped it and the price rang up as charged.

He handed the card back and smiled in a hopefully polite way. Haru placed his wallet into his back jeans' pocket and loosened the tie around the fish's bag and slowly emptied it into the bowl he had just bought.

Rin's brow furrowed. "Uhhh... What're you doing...?" He asked cautiously, still wondering if the boy was actually stable.

Black hair flipped once again as Haru stared at Rin from under lowered lashes. The red head began to blush for an unknown reason, and he scratched his nose.

"I'm bringing my fish home." A quiet voice responded as the boy cradled the glass in his arms and walked toward the door. The door opened, the bells jingled and he left. Rin stared blankly at the entrance. What just happened exactly? He shook his head, ridding himself of any deeper thoughts.

He picked up his name tag and pinned it to his shirt.

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End of First Chapter! What do you think? Please review!

He'a still laying down... ;v;

My own Draco...


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